Parable of the Laborers - Matt 20:1-16

The way that the scriptures are organized is great in that references are easy to make, and study is much easier. One downfall to having a large text divided into chapters and verses, however, is that the topics can seem disconnected. Going from one chapter to another, even though the content might flow smoothly if read continuously, can create a mental disconnect between the subject matter of the two separate chapters. I often wonder what it would be like to read the scriptures for the first time in one go, just like how I read a really good book that I’m into. Anyway, let’s review the background to make it flow better. A rich young man comes up to Jesus and asks what he personally can do in order to get eternal life, Jesus says for him to sell all he has and follow Him. The young man leaves, declining Jesus invitation at this point. Peter says, “Hey, wait, we gave up everything we have to follow you, what about us?” Jesus tells them, “hey don’t worry, you’ll have eternal life,” and then gives the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. This can go along with idea that Jesus’ answer was a rebuke to Peter, a “don’t worry about what everyone else is getting, just focus on yourself.”

In the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, we see a very toxic human reaction play out in a situation that the Savior describes, and that reaction is the “what about me?” effect. In the parable, a man who owns a vineyard needs workers for the harvest. He goes out first thing in the morning and hires a bunch of guys who agree to a wage of “a penny a day.” An analysis of this parable from gotquestions.org comments, “His offered wage of one denarius, a Roman’s soldiers pay for a day, was generous indeed. The workers in the first group were more than happy for the generous wage.” A Roman’s day wage for men to perform a completely unskilled task, let’s think about this. Harvesting is about picking food that grows on trees, on the low end, I would imagine the pay is probably $5/hour, meaning they would make probably $60/day for a 12 hour working shift. I personally don’t think that that is a very generous wage. Roman soldiers were profession, and let’s say a professional with some sort of skill would make $20/hour, equaling $240/day. So rounding somewhere in the middle, let’s put the penny’s equivalent somewhere around $200. For some people that wouldn’t be a very generous wage for a day, but probably for most, it would be greatly appreciated.

Those who were chosen first thing in the morning, surely were grateful, they were guaranteed work for that day, and great pay as well, but what about the guys who weren’t chosen.  In an April 2012 general conference talk entitled, “The Laborers in the Vineyard” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland commented, “If there is any sympathy to be generated, it should at least initially be for the men not chosen who also had mouths to feed and backs to clothe. Luck never seemed to be with some of them. With each visit of the steward throughout the day, they always saw someone else chosen.” Seeing that the work still needed to be done, the master of the vineyard sent his steward back to the place where the laborers hung out several times to get more people for working the harvest. Every time the more men were hired, they weren’t promised a certain pay rate only that they would be paid “whatever is right.” Probably because they had seen how generous the first group was to be paid initially, the other men most likely assumed that they would be compensated just fine.

The gotquestions.org article says, “Planting, maintaining and harvesting vineyards in first-century Israel was strenuous work requiring hard physical labor in the heart of summer.” This was not an easy job, so even though the pay was generous, the laborers still had to perform an exceptional amount of hard labor to do their job, it certainly wasn’t a hand out.

Finally, at the end of the day, their work is done and the master tells the steward “call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.” The question is, why didn’t the master just start paying men as they came forward in line, or why didn’t he start with the first group, why start with the last, knowing that the other men might get upset? I honestly don’t know. But anyway, the steward paid the first man one penny, and the second man one penny, and so on, every man a penny “but when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.” It’s understandable to see someone being treated incredibly generously and hope that we will be given the same treatment. Even though a penny for the day was generous, it wasn’t 5 pennies generous. It’s interesting because I know that I am blessed beyond measure, I have a great job, shelter, food, health and kids, honestly I want for nothing, but I still sometimes think, “hey, if I slip on this puddle in the aisle at Wal-mart, maybe they will give me lots of money.” I think it’s part of the human experience, to want more, to see what other people have and think, “that’s not fair, I deserve that more than they do.” It’s a natural, human reaction, but a destructive one.

The group of workers who were hired first were not pleased, and they became angry with the householder, basically saying, “we worked longer and harder than them, we deserve more money than they got!” Elder Holland paraphrases the master’s response saying, “My friends, I am not being unfair to you. You agreed on the wage for the day, a good wage. You were very happy to get the work, and I am very happy with the way you served. You are paid in full. Take your pay ad enjoy the blessing. As for the others, surely I am free to do what I like with my own money.” He’s absolutely right, the master was generous in the initial offer and was generous in the payment of the wages, there was nothing unjust in the distribution of the wages there was only generosity, to everyone.

I learned the lesson to never look to anything anyone else has and be jealous back when I was working the night shift in California. I was miserable and so were my kids, then one day there was an incident with one of my co-workers and she got suspended and it was really looking like she wasn’t coming back. I remember hearing what happened and secretly being thrilled because I wanted her shift and if she didn’t come back then it would be mine. The second that there was any quiet and I was still so excited about the prospect of taking her place, a clear distinct voice came to me asking, “do I care for you so poorly that your only way out is through someone else’s downfall? You are exactly where I want you to be, and when it’s time for that to change, I will provide a way.” That was a very profound and memorable lesson for me, and ever since then I’ve accepted that I am where I the Lord wants me to be for my own personal growth and progress. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been difficult to basically “keep my eyes on my own paper” and don’t worry about everyone else. It’s a natural thing to do, but it’s destructive not helpful.

This parable in particular has never felt like it was addressing jealousy for me, I’ve always viewed it another way. I have seen this parable to mean that all who accept the gospel will receive eternal life, regardless of when in the process they accepted it. When I was a kid, knowing that I was already basically born into the vineyard, I interpreted this to mean, “I have to keep the commandments because I was born into the gospel, and these other people will get the same reward I do, and they get to have fun with the lives. It’s not fair.” I completely indentified with the first group of laborers, “how come they get to hang out with their friends all day and do nothing ad still get paid the same as me when I’ve broken my back working for you.” If we were slaves, that would be one thing, but when we consider that the reward is eternal life and exaltation, that’s a pretty big reward that we could never earn for ourselves. We can only qualify for eternal life by becoming perfected through Jesus Christ; there is nothing that we can do for ourselves that will ever grant us the opportunity for eternal life.

It would seem like the perfect scenario to lead a life of riotous living, and then repent later in life when you’ve had all your fun. Isn’t that what the guys who were hired later in the day doing? Singing and dancing and playing games with their friends because they knew they were going to get paid a ton of money for minimal work at the end? But then I thought, “wait, wouldn’t they get hungry during the day waiting for the steward to come back?” Yes, they would be hungry, but not having any work, they would not have had any money to buy food with. So that put a damper on my idea of the perfect set-up. Then I realized that these guys probably didn’t know that the steward was going to come back and hire them all later, so they were probably pretty stressed out about not bringing any money home to their families.

Being hungry and anxious puts a damper on any festivities, regardless of how casual they are, so these guys probably weren’t partying and having a great time with their friends while waiting. In fact, when anyone did come around looking for workers, it probably became pretty cut throat with these stewards literally holding the power of life and death over these men and their families. So I figured that these guys probably weren’t friends at all because they saw each other as competition for food for their families. Then I thought about what the first group of guys said about working in the heat of the day, and I realized that these guys weren’t waiting in their homes for a phone call, they were probably waiting in a highly visible place in a place that is very unlikely to be shaded. I think about the day laborers waiting outside of Home Depot, and that’s all I can imagine when I hear this parable. So they might not have worked in that field in the heat of the day, but they surely sweat just as much as the other guys while waiting.

My perspective shifted from “they got to have fun and get paid, that’s not fair” to seeing that they actually were nervous about not getting work, hungry because they couldn’t afford food, suspicious of the other men and in open competition with them, hot, thirsty, and irritable. Whereas the first group of workers had the security to know that they were going to feed their families that night, they were probably provided with food and water during the day so they could keep up their strength, they had no competition between other workers so the time was spent pleasantly. They had peace of mind and support through the elements and camaraderie and a generous wage from the master of the vineyard.

I didn’t realize the flip side of this parable until after I came back to church and promised myself that I would never leave it again. I finally realized that the men waiting to be hired were not “living it up freely” they were suffering, physically from heat, hunger and dehydration and emotionally with anxiety and hopelessness. I realized that being outside of the gospel isn’t “fun” and being inside the gospel isn’t “back breaking work.” I imagine myself being one of the first group of workers who left to find something better, then learning that there in fact is nothing better, coming back and being grateful for the opportunity. I’ve been on both sides of this parable, and I think I’ll stay firmly in the vineyard now.